stevegrant

Yeah, I was going for the American Death Row version!

It'll be an orange one-piece affair (like Cameroon tried a few years back) with shackles on the ankles

And the twins...

I'm intrigued as to how they pinpointed these two individuals when those singing the usual "we can see you holding hands" song must have numbered into the thousands.

By way of comparison: Saints 104 Huddersfield 96 Brighton 84 Pompey 53

Racists shouldn't be allowed to own dogs

I was hoping someone would link to that

I suspect the Brighton fans' worthwhile cause to remove homophobic discrimination from football might be slightly damaged by having someone who appears to not be bothered about racial discrimination in a prominent position within their club... "Who's the racist, who's the racist, who's the racist on your bench?"

Perhaps, but surely there's got to be something slightly amiss when the only people ever linked to ownership of the club are those who have been linked to money laundering and other criminal activity. As the saying goes: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

They also put in a bid for us which was laughed out of the room.

Poyet's been in England since 1997 and as far as I'm aware hasn't had any problems speaking English to the media before

They've got Kazenga Lua-Lua on loan from Newcastle, although not sure how much he's actually played this season.

Haven't the foggiest, to be honest. I'm still struggling to see why they bought the club in the first place. As has been pointed out previously, CSI does have a relatively successful (or at least stable) sporting portfolio, so why buy a club with net liabilities of around £10m (£17m CVA less £7m for the player registrations)? Clearly so many dodgy characters being associated with the club has tarnished it almost beyond repair, hence why the only people ever linked to the club are equally or more dodgy than the last lot, so on that basis it's not entirely unfair for people to assume that their motives are somewhat dubious. Whether it proves that way or not, only time will tell, and to be fair they seem to be running things infinitely more sensibly this season than in the last 5 years or so.

Surprisingly not. It got a nervous laugh from whoever was up on the top table (strangely, it wasn't the captain this time - the captain was who I was actually referring to ) and the usual "well, we all like to enjoy ourselves every now and then but there's a time and a place, etc etc" response. I wasn't expecting anything more than that, it was more a case of making them aware of what had been seen, on numerous occasions.

There weren't any vetted questions as far as I can remember, all questions came live from people sat in the audience. I remember asking one about whether a senior player being seen slumped in the doorway of Woolworths in town at 3am with a cigarette in one hand and a kebab in the other was deemed to be setting a good example to young fans... it got some "interesting" looks from the top table

The Radio Solent ones - that used to happen every year, usually the week before the season started with the chairman, manager and captain all present - used to attract all sorts to it, young and old. You had to apply in writing to the BBC for tickets in advance (tickets were free, just needed a stamped addressed envelope) and once the tickets were gone, that was it. Clearly you'd get some people who were quick off the blocks in getting tickets for them and their mates, but it would always be a mixed bag of attendees. Ultimately most didn't get to ask a question, but many weren't actually there to ask questions, merely to be there at all and perhaps to get an autograph or photo with the manager and/or team captain.

Also, surely anything reported second or third hand from a private meeting like this is infinitely MORE likely to have words and contexts twisted than a live radio broadcast with a recording of the whole thing?

If he's saying anything particularly sensitive then that brings a slightly different issue into play, doesn't it? I can't imagine anything that's said at these dinners is something he'd be upset if it was shared, otherwise why would he invite a load of randoms and give them the inside scoop?

Are you two finished mutually admiring each other?

It's in the EU, so I would assume so.

My understanding isn't that some think his mate is spouting a load of crap, but that what Cortese said seems somewhat odd. As has been said, if he wanted to do something for everyone who went to Plymouth, why didn't he just waive the ticket tax for that game? Why didn't he ask PAFC's security to escort him to the away concourse where he could buy the beer himself in person? Given PAFC's financial problems, I can't imagine they would have refused around £10k worth of business.

The "order history" on the online system will only show purchases where you are the lead purchaser, i.e. you're the one who's paid the money, either online, over the phone or in person at the ticket office. If friends have bought tickets using your customer number, you'll be able to check by asking them to log into their account on the online system. Each order will show the customer numbers that have been used. Not ideal by any means, and it really shouldn't be too difficult to show a list of tickets that have been bought using your own customer number, even if you weren't the lead purchaser.

Spain got two late goals to rescue a draw in the end, their results in friendlies have been mixed to say the least in the last year or so. It doesn't help that the Spanish FA are basically whoring them out to the highest bidder and will take them anywhere to play a game in a Harlem Globetrotters-esque situation, which can't do the players much good really. A midweek trip to Costa Rica for a meaningless game is hardly going to be a motivating factor for them.